A Win for Wisconsin - And America (N.Y. Post) - The state university’s fight song is called “On, Wisconsin,” but ever since Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature in Madison began their epic battle with public-employee unions, it’s been more like “On and On and On, Wisconsin.”

Now it’s over — and the good guys won.

In a decision Tuesday with national implications, the Wisconsin State Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that Dane County Judge Maryann Sumi had overstepped her bounds when she invalidated the state’s so-called Budget Repair bill, which stripped most public-employee unions of their collective-bargaining privileges.

“One of the courts that we are charged with supervising has usurped the legislative power which the Wisconsin constitution grants exclusively to the legislature,” the high court wrote in vacating Sumi’s ruling. The “Budget Repair” law will now take effect on June 29, although more legal challenges to the law’s specifics are expected.

Talk about a knock-down, drag-out fight: In a bare-knuckled effort to overturn the results of last fall’s election, the state unions and their Democratic allies waged a scorched-earth campaign against the law, as the state sought to close a $3.1 billion shortfall over the next two years.

Their tactics included a prolonged sit-in at the Capitol, marches, threats of violence and recall petitions. Fourteen Democratic lawmakers even fled the state for weeks to prevent a vote and, when that didn’t work, found a friendly judge to throw out the law on a technicality.

The decision is not just a win for Wisconsin — it’s a victory for constitutionality and the separation of powers across the country.

Partisan judges must not be allowed to override the duly elected legislatures to satisfy their own political positions, nor should they be able to tell the legislatures how to interpret their own rules. In the Wisconsin case, Judge Sumi invalidated the law on the risible grounds that its passage violated the advance-notice requirements of the state’s Open Meetings Law — as if the Budget Repair bill hadn’t been Topic A for months.

Wrote the high court: “In the posting of notice that was done, the legislature relied on its interpretation of its own rules of proceeding. The court declines to review the validity of the procedure.” In other words, when it comes to way the legislature runs its business, the courts should butt out.

It’s about time somebody said so. In the dreadful mess called Bush v. Gore, the US Supreme Court was dragged into the Florida recount in part because the state supreme court had misinterpreted state election law duly enacted by the Legislature.

Something similar happened in New Jersey in the fall of 2002, when scandal-plagued Sen. Robert Torricelli abruptly dropped out of his race for re-election. Although the statutory deadline had passed, the state supreme court effectively overruled the legislature and allowed Torricelli to be replaced on the ballot by Frank Lautenberg, who cruised to victory.
Naturally, the dissent in the Wisconsin ruling was stinging. Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, a liberal, accused the conservative majority of reaching its decision in haste and said the justices had “set forth their own version of facts without evidence. They should not engage in this disinformation.” She bitterly disagreed with Justice David Prosser, whose recent re-election to the high court was also fiercely contested by the unions and the Democrats; Prosser won by about 7,000 votes.

The ruling is most welcome. The state Republicans — several of whom now face recall elections in July — were prepared to re-pass the bill, which would have restarted the whole kerfuffle again.

The last thing the country needs is more wrangling over what should be a few simple principles. One is that the three branches of government are separate and equal, each given autonomy within their own spheres. Another is that elections ought to mean something.

School choice could expand across state under budget provision (and lots more about the budget) - Bob Delaporte, a spokesman for Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills), confirmed that Republicans would take no changes to the budget passed out of the state Assembly early Thursday morning. That would allow the bill to be sent directly to Walker after the Senate passage without any further debate by the Assembly. Read more: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/124004679.html

Job Creators Caucus Joins Leadership to Discuss Anniversary of the Democrats’ Recovery Summer and the GOP Plan for Job Creation - Washington, D.C. –Members of the Job Creators Caucus, including Rep. Reid Ribble, participated today in a press conference highlighting the one-year anniversary of the Democrats’ Recovery Summer touting the supposed positive effects of the stimulus on job creation.

Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor, Rep. Ribble and the entire GOP Leadership team spoke on the House Republican’s Plan for America’s Job Creators (http://www.gop.gov/indepth/jobs) which focuses on substantive legislative solutions to get government out of the way of businesses and job creators.

Click here for remarks from Rep. Ribblehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRNw2lWvFM4&feature=youtu.be
“As we put policies together that would help our economy grow, we came to a common conclusion: government must get out of the way,” said Rep. Ribble. “Some new program, or stimulus or Big Government idea is not going to solve our jobs problem. This Plan for America’s Job Creators works because it removes the obstacles that stand in the way of job creation in this country.” www.ribble.house.gov

Without Government-Shrink, Sen. Ron Johnson’s Voting No on Debt-Limit Hike - President Obama can count on newly elected Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin as a “no” vote on increasing the debt limit. That is, unless the Democrats agree to major structural spending reforms that dramatically curtail federal expenditures moving forward.

What types of reforms is Johnson looking for? For one, a constitutional amendment that limits the size of government to a percentage of our economy. “For over 50 years, revenue coming in to the federal government has been 18.8% on average. That’s the number we should be pegging,” Johnson told HUMAN EVENTS.

“That’s the root cause of the problem—the size, the scope, [and] all the regulations.”

And if these reforms aren’t implemented, Johnson unhesitatingly says he will vote against a spending-cap increase. The U.S. government is expected to hit its borrowing maximum by early August.
#######################NOTE: It has been 779 days since Senate Democrats last passed any budget. (7th Congressman Sean Duffy countdown - Joyce)

The King Hearings, Round 2: Jailhouse Muslim Radicalization - Even without the intense media circus that surrounded the first hearings on the radicalization of Muslims in America, the second round of “King Hearings” had just as much drama and hyperbole, and as many compelling testimonials. At its climax, accusations that the hearing was motivated by racism and bigotry, hurled by a prominent Democrat, provoked the Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Peter King (R.-N.Y.) to fire back with a brilliant and eviscerating reply.

Titled, “The Threat of Muslim-American Radicalization in U.S. Prisons,” the hearing had an even better list of expert witnesses than the first.

Supreme Court Allows Controversial Union Law To Take Effect - Court Vacates Dane County Court Ruling - The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the polarizing collective bargaining law to go into effect.

The Supreme Court overturned a lower court’s ruling that blocked the implementation of the law.

Republicans who control the Legislature had been hoping the court would rule on the law before they started debate on the budget Tuesday. If the court hadn’t ruled, Republicans planned to add the collective bargaining provisions to the state budget.

State Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, issued a statement on Tuesday afternoon restating their belief the law was passed legally. They called the court’s decision a “vindication.”

Protesters react to court decision on collective bargaining; vow to fight through recalls - Crowds of protesters at the Capitol booed news of Tuesday’s Supreme Court decision opening the way for Gov. Scott Walker’s limits to public sector collective bargaining to take effect.

The Left Pushes Hard on Class Warfare Rhetoric - This past weekend the walls, doors, public art and walkways outside the state chamber of commerce in Madison, Wisconsin were vandalized.

Today, the offices were the staging area for the liberals’ stunt of the day. A throng of protesters chanted, “Cuts? No way. Make the corporations pay!” as they took the half mile walk from the State Capitol to the offices of the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce.

Door-to-door recall campaign against Republicans - More on the 6 new jobs created since GAB certified the recall of Holperin - You may be interested that the jobsite for Holperin’s helpers is Northern Tier Uniserv. On March 20th, when the “14″ were on the run, I posted articles about Uniserv in that newsletter. Below is part of the job description and below it is a very good description of what Uniserv represents. You will need to open the links to read the articles.

Work Site County/ies: Oneida
Jobsite is located at 1901 River Street Rhinelander
On Bus Route? No
Pay:$10.00 Per Hour
Duration/Hours Per Week:Full-Time/Part-Time Temporary, 5 to 35 Hours Per Week. Job ends 7/19/2011 4pm until 9pm weekdays, late mornings and afternoon on weekends
seven days a week, employees can work as much or as little as they want
Shift/Work Days:4pm - 9pm weekdays during the day on weekends
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. seven days a week, employees can work as much or as little as they want
Number of Openings: 6

As protesters pound on walls, Walker tells housing conferees, ‘That’s opportunity knocking’ - Before and throughout Walker’s half-hour talk, the 60 or so protesters marched in a circle on the sidewalk outside the main building doors near University Avenue and Frances Street, chanting and drumming and blowing high-pitched horns — though only the horns and pounding could be heard inside while Walker spoke.

Except for that one remark, Walker ignored the disruptions. He also spoke relatively little about housing in his half-hour address, using most of his time to defend administration proposals and policies that the Republican governor, who took office in January, says will balance the state budget and reposition Wisconsin for better economic times.

Group wants Democrats to field bogus GOP candidates, too - “Since the early 1900s Wisconsin has had a system of open primaries as a result of (one-time Sen.) Bob LaFollette’s reforms to take the political nominating process out of the hands of the parties and railroad and lumber barons,” he said.

“That means that if someone wishes to run as a Republican or a Democrat or a Libertarian he or she doesn’t have to go get the blessing of the party. And the voters get to decide. Wisconsin was the first state in the nation to do this. As a result of our open system, where the public decides, the system is open to people who want to use the rules for political advantage in one way or another.” Read more: http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/123645299.html

3rd Graders Indoctrinated in School Budgeting by Milwaukee Teacher - I was seeing red this morning when I read this first-person account of 3rd grade socialist indoctrination in Milwaukee Public Schools.

It came from Dale Weiss, an MPS teacher and devoted radical.

“The process of addressing budget cuts with my students taught me an incredible amount,” Weiss recently wrote. “I learned that laying a social justice foundation for young students is a complex process. I learned when issues are addressed, they need to be revisited many, many times.”
“Social justice foundation?” Oh wait, dear readers, the giddy and proud Ms. Weiss explains how she set the 8- and 9-year olds up for a fall:………..

Do Weiss and teachers like her really believe they are being paid to spout their nutty political beliefs in the classroom? She and her kind are a colossal waste of tax dollars and should be removed from the school payroll.

A Nation of Government Dependents - The numbers are staggering. According to a Census Bureau report for the first quarter of 2009, of a little more than 300 million Americans, nearly 139 million — or 46.2% of us — were receiving benefits from one or more federal programs.

The largest programs are familiar ones: Social Security (46,509,000), Medicaid (70,818,000), Medicare (42,566,000) and the Food Stamp program (36,096,000).

Smaller, less familiar programs such as the Railroad Retirement Program, veterans compensation, unemployment compensation, workers compensation, housing subsidies, Federal Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Women’s, Infants and Children benefits (WIC) and other means-tested assistance programs covered more than 60 million individuals, many redundantly.

There are far more recipients of food stamps today than there were two years ago, and Baby Boomers are just beginning to swell the rolls of Social Security and Medicare.

But some of the large groups receiving government benefits aren’t included in the Census Bureau report. The Bureau’s list does not include tax breaks for industries, businesses, and individuals. And it overlooks things like taxpayer subsidies for farmers, ethanol refiners, and wind energy, among other politically favored recipients. Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts, and recipients of other “cultural” expenditures employ people who thereby benefit from taxpayer-funded government handouts. Year 2009 recipients of government benefits included those who took advantage of the horrendously wasteful “Cash for Clunkers” program, the energy-efficient windows replacement scheme in the failed Stimulus program, and other governmental boondoggles. Some business tax breaks, such as the preferential tax status of employer-provided health insurance, filter down to individuals. Of the roughly fifty percent of Americans who pay federal income taxes, about one-quarter itemize the home mortgage interest deduction on their tax returns.

There are many other examples too numerous — or obscure — to mention here.

The United State tax code exceeds seventy thousand pages. Many thousands of deals for special interests and constituencies are written into it. Ironically, in order to take advantage of available tax breaks, individuals and businesses spend unimaginable amounts of time and money to properly prepare their returns.

Nonetheless, adding tax break recipients, including employees of companies receiving breaks and subsidies, to the numbers receiving government cash payouts and direct benefits, the number of those receiving government benefits likely exceeds three-quarters of Americans — more than 225 million, possibly many more! Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/06/a_nation_of_government_dependents.html

For Immediate Release: June 6, 2011 Contact: Deb Jordahl (877) 707-5571 Sun Prairie, WI —The Wisconsin Club for Growth has asked the Wisconsin Judicial Commission to investigate possible misconduct on the part of Dane County Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi. Sumi is at the center of a controversial ruling blocking publication of new law to reform the collective bargaining privileges of government employees in Wisconsin. The complaint says Sumi acted inappropriately and demonstrated bias against the State when she filed a brief with the Wisconsin Supreme Court last month. • On May 18, 2011, Judge Sumi, through her attorneys, filed…

The Left’s Hypocrisy On ‘Fake Candidates’ In Wisconsin - In the wake of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s “expose” that Wisconsin Republicans were actively recruiting “fake candidates” to run against Democrat challengers in summer primaries to the advantage of incumbent Republicans, the hysteria of those in the media and on Left shows a glaring hypocrisy.

Last summer, a candidate named Andrew Wisniewski ran as a Republican in Assembly District 25 against conservative Independent Bob Ziegelbaur. Ziegelbaur, a Democrat assemblyman since 1992, defected from the party in the summer of 2010 because he felt “they became more enthusiastic about big government and big tax increases and farther away from pro-life issues.”

But instead of running an honest campaign against Ziegelbauer, AFSCME union organizer Jason Sidener recruited Andrew Wisniewski to run as a Republican in an attempt to siphon votes away from Ziegelbauer in the conservative district. Wisniewski initially did not receive enough valid signatures to get on the ballot, but a GAB error revealed he had enough signatures to be placed on the ballot despite objections by the Republican Party.

On Wisniewski’s recruitment and candidacy, Ziegelbauer said:

“It’s pretty obvious to everyone that the Madison Democratic machinery put up a fake candidate to put a name on the ballot because they think it will screw up our election in the 25th Assembly District. From my perspective it points out how bad things have gotten in Wisconsin.”

Don Zimmer, chairman of the the Manitowoc County Republican Party wrote a letter to the editor of the Manitowoc Daily Herald saying:

“The candidacy of Andrew Wisniewski for the 25th Assembly District seat is a fraud and a joke. Wisniewski is not a Republican. He was put forth as a candidate by members of a public service union and other liberals solely for the purpose of taking votes away from Bob Ziegelbauer.”

Bob Ziegelbauer defeated both Republican candidate Andrew Wisniewski and Democrat Kerry Trask in November 10 by earning 50% of the vote. Wisniewski was only able to siphon 17% of the vote.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s “expose” on the Republican “plot” makes no mention of last summer’s candidacy of Andrew Wisniewski. The truth of the matter is both parties have attempted to run fake candidates in “trojan horse” plots to disrupt their opposition.

Wisconsin Supreme Court weighs its role in collective bargaining case - Tough questions came for both sides during 51/2 hours of arguments that seasoned attorneys said were the longest in memory, if not in state history. Arguments usually last about an hour, but this case is particularly complex and involved six sets of lawyers.

Ok, just what is the Ryan Medicare plan? - Much chatter today centers on the Ryan Medicare Plan, a proposal to reform Medicare first proposed by Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan as part of “A Roadmap for America’s Future” to guide the House Budget Committee under Republican Party control. Though hype and rhetoric surround the subject, little real understanding has seeped down into the public at large. Let’s try to sort it out.
To understand where Ryan is heading, one must first understand the basics of Medicare. Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/06/ok_just_what_is_the_ryan_medicare_plan.html

U.S. gives billions of dollars in foreign aid to world’s richest countries - then asks to borrow it back - The Congressional Research Service released the report last month which shows that in 2010 the U.S. handed out a total of $1.4bn to 16 foreign countries that held at least $10bn in Treasury securities.

What these professors and other government workers do not understand is that they are not demanding a share of the profits from the fat-cat bourgeoisie. They are squeezing taxpayers—for whom the professors purport to advocate—whose lives are in most cases far harsher than their own.

State Supreme Justice ‘Where does it stop?’ - Is there room for disagreement in the state Senate, literally?

That’s one of the questions the Wisconsin Supreme Court began pondering Monday in the much anticipated State v. Circuit Court for Dane County.

In February, opponents of Wisconsin’s union reform legislation were welcomed into a Senate hearing room, while lawmakers discussed the legislation eliminating many collective bargaining privileges for some government employees.

But there wasn’t enough space in the room to accommodate hundreds of other protesters who waited outside.

It is hard to imagine a more demeaning statement about black America than labeling demands that all voters show a photo ID anti-black.

This is easily demonstrated. Imagine if some Democratic politician had announced that demanding a photo ID at the voting booth was an attempt to keep Jewish Americans from voting. No one would understand what the person was talking about. But why not? Jews vote almost as lopsidedly Democrat as do blacks. So why weren’t Jews included in liberal objections to voter ID laws?

Reince Priebus Blasts DNC’s Wasserman Shultz - Preibus says Obama has referred to the current unemployment rate of 9.1 percent as “a mere bump in the numbers, a slight deviation.”

Obama has been president for more than two years, the RNC chairman says. “We have basically taken a leap off of Niagara Falls when it comes to the employment numbers in this country,” Preibus says. “He promised 3 million jobs if the stimulus was passed, which as we all know was an $850 billion program, and instead we lost 2.5 million jobs since he’s been in office.”

Giving Schools ‘The Business’ - This we might have foretold. Government doesn’t think on its feet. Government is slow, creaky and resistant to quick change. Old ways of doing things grow encrustations that would take work to knock off. Government workers — in the present case, teachers and principals — acquire vested rights and interests and the jealousies that go with them. Improve things? What do you mean? Prove first the need to improve. Such is the government way. Oh — and the spending of regularly increased sums of money to protect the old ways of doing things: that, too, is the government way.

As quick on its feet as government is slow, business constantly appraises its operations and methods. It must. If not, some competitor or other will arise to knock the slothful and somnolent off-balance — to take away their business, that is. This understanding of the need for vigilance is what strongly commends business to the task of helping government plug educational holes and clean up messes.

Business wants to know what works at the right price. Which is what makes its educational agenda potentially transformative as it takes shape. Innovate, hold people accountable, demand performance, set goals and make sure they get met — business methods of this sort can point the way to recovery of public education in America, away from control by government and the teachers unions.

A River of Race Runs Through It - Was it racist when Gingrich called Obama the “food stamp president”. The discussion itself is a tangent, because regardless of what you think of Gingrich or Obama– 47 million Americans are still on food stamps. The Newspeak of political correctness obsessively parses language, while ignoring consequences. It would rather rename streets, than take on the poverty and social dysfunction living on them. It pretends to be concerned about racism, when it is only concerned about the political exploitation of race. Read more: http://www.rightsidenews.com/2011060713759/editorial/rsn-pick-of-the-day/a-river-of-race-runs-through-it.html

No blind eye to ‘the worst of the worse’ - But the world’s most atrocious dictatorships are sustained as well by the willingness of free nations to turn a blind eye to their crimes — or, even worse, to make excuses for them. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was justly slammed in March when she labeled Syria’s Assad a “reformer,” but Washington’s appeasement of Damascus has long been a bipartisan project. The same is true of the zeal with which Americans and other Westerners seek to “engage” other human-rights villains from Beijing to Riyadh. There may be good reasons to do business with China and Saudi Arabia, but there is never a good reason to deny the moral gulf that separates totalitarian regimes from their subjects — and from us. Read more: http://townhall.com/columnists/jeffjacoby/2011/06/06/no_blind_eye_to_the_worst_of_the_worst/page/full/

Did FCC Collude with Socialist Organization to Push Gov’t Regulation of Internet? - Not satisfied with staging government takeovers of the financial sector and the healthcare system, the Obama administration is now moving on to the Internet.

We recently uncovered documents from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that show officials at the FCC colluded with the radical leftist Free Press organization to publicly push a new plan to regulate the Internet under the FCC’s so-called “net neutrality” program.

In December 2010, the FCC voted 3-2 to advance its “net neutrality program” – a decision that seems to fly in the face of an April, 2010, federal appeals court ruling that the FCC had exceeded its authority in seeking to regulate the Internet and enforce “net neutrality” rules.

The Pretense of Obama’s ‘Other’ Labor Board’s Investigation of Delta - Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Within the next several months (perhaps sooner), the odds are President Obama’s National Mediation Board will find that Delta Air committed unforgivable sins during multiple union election campaigns last fall, causing the unions to lose the elections. As a result, employees at Delta will be subjected to more union elections until they—in the minds of union bosses—vote the right way (to unionize). It doesn’t matter what the facts are—Delta’s conduct could have been as pure as virgin snow—the NMB will rule that (at least several) of the elections must be rerun……..

Kim Simac for Senate yard signs and bumper stickers will be available at the headquarters of the Lakeland Area Republican Women’s Club located at 376 Milwaukee Street (and Hwy. 51) on Wednesday, June 8th, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Kim is a great candidate and what better way to show support than to put out a yard sign or place a bumper sticker on your car.

Arguments begin in collective bargaining case - State Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism during a hearing Monday about a Dane County judge’s ability to halt a law limiting collective bargaining by public workers, as Republicans who control the Legislature watched for signals the court would act quickly.

The justices heard arguments for over two hours Monday, and are now on a break until 1:30 p.m. About 70 people filled the hearing room.

The most aggressive questioning came from Justice Michael Gableman, who wondered whether judges really hold the power to prevent a law from being published. If they do, could they go so far as halting a senator from introducing legislation?

Wisconsin Food Stamps Reportedly Illegally Bought and Sold on Facebook - A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel investigation into possible fraud in the state’s FoodShare benefits program found that some people are illegally buying and selling food stamps on Facebook.

The newspaper reported Sunday that it found nine Facebook users in Milwaukee and about 70 users nationwide had posted to Facebook to either buy or sell food assistance benefits illegally — or to help others do so.

State Department of Health Services spokeswoman Beth Kaplan acknowledges social networks could be used to scam the program. She says the department would refer suspected criminal activity to authorities.
Gov. Scott Walker’s commission on fraud and government waste is looking at FoodShare fraud for a report due later this summer.

Does Limiting Government Really Condemn Children To Starvation? - The budget debates have been illuminating. Apparently, those heartless tea partiers would gladly allow children to starve so millionaires can pay less in the way of taxes. The latter has been a recurring slander leveled against welfare reform in the ’90s and more recently in response to Paul Ryan’s budget proposal.

No one starved then. What if Washington stopped doling out relief now? Would a vacuum prevail? It’s an odd presumption considering free markets have lifted so many millions out of poverty and America is the world’s most generous dispenser of private charity. Maybe sanctimonious liberals fear such a vacuum because they are notoriously stingy.

People who oppose government redistribution contribute four times as much charity as those who favor such schemes. This includes 3.5 times as much to secular charities. Those who prefer free markets also give more blood, are more likely to provide directions, to return change given mistakenly or offer assistance to the homeless.

To truly be charity, alms must be given freely, require nothing in remuneration and offer the donor no material benefit. If possible, benevolence should be anonymous. The left hand ought to not even know what the right hand does.

Instead, the Left hand blares a trumpet about compassion while spending others’ money as it shamelessly smears the Right. Who is really heartless: those seeking fiscal responsibility or those spending our children into peonage?

Using one’s heart and one’s mind are not mutually exclusive.

The real vacuum is federal spending. Washington filters our taxes through a bureaucratic black-hole before spewing out waste and vote-buying patronage. Public charity is an oxymoron. There is nothing moral in confiscating property from one to bestow on another.

As discussed previously, society does not revolve around Washington. The building blocks for an ordered, coherent community are families, friends and neighbors and then church (or equivalent). Only if each fails does government have any justification to execute its own counterfeit charity.
In our limited, constitutional republic, the pecking order for a public response is first local government, and then state. There is no constitutional standing for federal charity. Rather than Congressman Ryan’s block grants to states, why funnel these funds through Washington at all? Instead, restore control back to state and local governments. The closer proximity between giver and recipient, the more efficient and responsible is charity’s conduct.

Historically, when private parties provided most benevolence, it was generally administered more prudently than politicians redistributing other’s largesse. Thomas Jefferson bragged that you could travel the entire eastern seaboard and never encounter an American begging. Private charity was readily available and distributed responsibly so as to not create additional social burdens.

Relief was never meant for people who could help themselves, but don’t. Instead of easy handouts, people who neglect their duties could be taught responsibility and the dignity of work. Sensible charity offers a minimal safety net to prevent starvation or exposure, not provide idle comfort.
Poverty once suggested that someone lacked food, clothing or shelter. As the Heritage Foundation observed,

According to the government’s own surveys, the typical “poor” American has cable or satellite TV, two color TV’s, a DVD player or VCR. He has air conditioning, a car, a microwave, a refrigerator, a stove, and a clothes washer and dryer. He is able to obtain medical care when needed. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry, and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family’s essential needs.

Not exactly dire circumstances. The average menial laborer today enjoys more material abundance than a prince or tribal chieftain of recent past.

Washington sets the poverty bar at three times the income level necessary to afford an adequate diet. In 2011 it’s about $22,500 for families of four. The calculation considers only about four percent of government assistance. An average family with children in the bottom third of income receives over $30,000 of government relief annually across 71 means tested poverty programs.

Per the Census Bureau, people classified as poor spend $2.24 for every $1 of reported income. Many underreport income, acquired illicitly or otherwise, to avoid taxes and qualify for greater handouts. If the rate were based on consumption, poverty would be halved.

These endeavors violate many of the essential ingredients of sound economics. By means testing, incentives are perverted. They discourage effort, personal savings and marriage. We incent people not to work, spend frivolously and have children out of wedlock despite a clear correlation between marriage and success; and similar connections between illegitimacy and crime, drug abuse, unemployment and poor academic performance.

Welfare may profit overpaid government social workers, but it impoverishes those most vulnerable in our midst while consigning them to communities wreaked by high crime and moral despair. Men become superfluous as women marry the state. As illegitimate children became a bread ticket, we got more illegitimate children. Men turn to the street unbridled by the responsibility of providing for their offspring.

Handouts destroy families, rendering the recipients into perpetual dependence. Welfare creates so many additional social needs that only government can marshal sufficient resources in certain low-income areas.

But that government exacerbates a problem leading to more government and thus more exacerbation offers a rationale to shrink, not expand the state’s reach.

The welfare state was created by opportunists exemplifying Lord Acton’s warning that power corrupts. It exploits the poor as political props with little regard for their well-being. The state is not altruistic. It is not inhabited by exemplars of wisdom and virtue transcending the human frailties that befall the rest of us.

According to Hillsdale College’s Michael Bauman, “More frequently than we care to admit, our poverty programs are thinly veiled efforts to enhance our self-esteem and to assuage our consciences by means of state programs. To imagine that by such shallow and self-gratifying efforts we can eliminate human poverty is shameless hubris, not charity and grace.”
Government sinecures actually lobby Congress on behalf of continuing these wasteful, overlapping programs for their personal enrichment. The SEIU, AFSCME and other bureaucrats advocate ardently for enlarged entitlements. But budget matters are secondary. The question is do these programs harm their supposed beneficiaries.

Social problems grow proportionately to what we waste “solving” them. Increased spending has not decreased poverty. The poverty rate stood at 12.6% in 1970. We now dispense, in real terms, about 15 times as much in blatant disregard of human nature. President Obama accelerated welfare spending by over 40%, to almost $1 trillion, but the rate today is 15%.
America spends over $2 trillion annually on entitlements, but this promises to explode as Baby Boomers retire. Private charity totals about $300 billion. If Washington ceased, could private parties tackle this terrific burden?

Today, America is far wealthier than when relief was local and primarily private. The average income, adjusted for inflation, increased sevenfold during the Twentieth Century. We’re wealthier, healthier, have more opportunities, etc. There are more resources available for charity because we’re better off, and were it still conducted sensibly, there would be less need.

The expanding attitude of entitlement endangers our very national ethos. America should never have embarked on this wretched journey which may soon smother the private sector. Only the creation of wealth can truly overcome poverty and this depends on individual effort.

Loved by Republicans, loathed by Democrats, Scott Walker remains in a political class by himself - In a Wisconsin poll taken two weeks ago, Gov. Walker’s approval rating among Republican voters was 87%.

His approval rating among Democratic voters was 9%.

Those aren’t normal numbers, even in polarized times.

Few if any governors are as popular in their own party as Walker is today.

“They’re not backing off, it’s kind of a ploy that they’re using.”
Vukmir said those who are write contracts now may be bitter later.

“We’ve heard from many school districts and levels of government, that they realize the effect of what we’re doing is creating greater local control,” Vukmir said. “Others it took a while to realize, ‘wow, we’re in control.’ The ones that are settling contracts now are going to be really hurt.”

In Weston, Wisconsin talks of increased employee benefit contributions were on the table long before Walker came into the picture, but now the city feels more confident about asking employees to pay half of their pension next year.

Weston Administrator Dean Zuleger said raising employee contributions is more about following demands that voters made last fall when they elected Gov. Walker.

“Communities who are trying to circumvent the legislation (by renewing union contracts) are taking the democratic form of the election out of the hands of the people,” Zuleger said.

Milwaukee Teachers Push for Taxpayer-funded Erections - No, this is not a Weinergate post.

Public school teachers in Milwaukee want taxpayers to pay for their erections.

The latest:

In March, it was announced with much fanfare that the Milwaukee teachers’ union was dropping it’s controversial Viagra lawsuit against MPS.

However, the MacIver News Service has learned that the effort to force MPS to provide coverage for erectile dysfunction treatments has arisen again, albeit in a different venue.

The Milwaukee Teachers Education Association’s (MTEA) decision earlier this year came just eight months after filing their August of 2010 suit in Milwaukee County Circuit Court wherein they argued that the board’s policy of excluding erectile dysfunction drugs from their health plan coverage was discriminatory against men.

In December of last year MPS employee Henry Sampson filed a complaint with the Equal Rights Division of the State of Wisconsin’s Department of Workforce Development, arguing that excluding coverage for the gender-specific diagnosis of erectile dysfunction violated the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act (WFEA). At this time it is unknown whether union officials were aware of Sampson’s pending complaint with the State when they dropped their lawsuit in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.

On May 4th, the Equal Rights Division found that there was probable cause to believe the Milwaukee Board of School Directors violated the WFEA and discriminated against Sampson on the basis of his sex.

And, so, a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge is pending in the matter.

Feingold, taxis circle Capitol - Former U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold led a crowd of hundreds of marchers, taxi cabs and an antique fire engine around the Capitol Square in a demonstration Monday (today).

In the heat, the pro-union demonstrators — perhaps as many as 1,000 in all — marched in opposition to Gov. Scott Walker’s budget policies that would end most collective bargaining for public workers and cut aid to schools and local governments.

Feingold wins both straw polls (at Democrat convention in Milwaukee during the weekend) - Russ Feingold is the overwhelming choice among Wisconsin Democratic party activists to be their next governor and U.S. Senator, according to a pair of straw polls administered by WisPolitics.com.
Feingold captured 254 votes for governor and 271 votes for senator — totals that easily outpaced all his potential rivals for the party’s nominations.

Feingold has said he’ll make a decision on the open seat Senate race by Labor Day, though one Democrat close to the former senator isn’t convinced he’ll pursue either contest.

“There is a lot of fantasy football going on in Wisconsin right now. I don’t see governor as realistic. I’m not sure Senate is either at this point,” said the source. “The Sunday brunch buffet is always best the first time. It’s never the same after that.”

Rep. Tammy Baldwin, who is widely expected to enter the race for Sen. Herb Kohl’s seat, placed second to Feingold in the Senate straw poll of Democratic delegates, taking 187 votes. Rep. Ron Kind won 87 votes.
The poll was administered at the state party convention in Milwaukee this weekend.

Top Republican justifies running fake Democrats in recall races - By Daniel Bice of the Journal Sentinel - Updated: June 6, 2011 1:05 p.m. |(110) Comments (It’s about time our party fought back!!!!! The other side can get a good taste of their own medicine!!!!! - Joyce)

The head of the state Republican Party today acknowledged that it is encouraging fake Democrats to run in recall elections this summer.
Stephan Thompson, executive director of the state party, issued a statement justifying the practice because Republican senators have been too busy in Madison to prepare for the recall elections.

“The Republican Party of Wisconsin has advocated that protest candidates run in Democratic primaries to ensure that Republican legislators have ample time to communicate with voters throughout their districts after the state budget is approved,” Thompson said in his statement.

The Journal Sentinel disclosed that the party is hoping to run “protest candidates” as Democrats in the recall elections for Republican Sens. Randy Hopper of Fond du Lac and Luther Olsen of Ripon. Hopper has said he had no knowledge of the matter.

If a primary is held for either party, that would push back the general election by a month, thereby giving the incumbent lawmakers more time to campaign.

UPDATE: Interestingly, it wasn’t so long ago when top Republicans were offended by this tactic.

Last year, Thompson’s predecessor, Mark Jefferson, complained that Democrats and the unions ran a fake Republican to force a GOP primary in the race against state Rep. Bob Ziegelbauer, an Independent from Manitowoc. Jefferson called it a “nasty, cynical ploy.”

But in his lengthy statement, Thompson defends and justifies running spoiler candidates:

“The upcoming recall elections are unprecedented not only in Wisconsin, but in our nation’s history. Unlike the Democratic Senators who deserted their constituents for a trip to Illinois, six Republican state Senators face recall not for misconduct, but for doing the job they were elected to do: taking a stance on a tough issue that came before the legislature.

“Now, these Republican senators are again busy doing their jobs crafting a fiscally responsible state budget that promotes economic growth, which puts them at a distinct disadvantage with many of their challengers who have had sufficient time to campaign. Because of this disadvantage, and the outrageous nature of elected officials facing recall for standing up for a balanced budget, the Republican Party of Wisconsin has advocated that protest candidates run in Democratic primaries to ensure that Republican legislators have ample time to communicate with voters throughout their districts after the state budget is approved.

“The public deserves time to learn about the differences between the candidates and about the Republican plan to control government spending and boost economic growth vs. the Democrat alternative of job-killing tax hikes.”http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/123244408.html

Obama’s Commerce Nominee Wants to Limit Energy Consumption and Redistribute Wealth - The wise man smiled and proclaimed that government should use “regulatory steps” as well as market forces to intervene in the power generation sector. The man also told his UC Berkeley audience that government should set higher targets for non-fossil-fuel-based energy production and penalize producers that don’t comply. The issuer of these decrees was John Bryson, who at the time just happened to be CEO of Edison International, a company whose fortunes would increase under alternative energy mandates. Bryson now happens to be President Obama’s nominee to head the Commerce Department. Just another day in Barack Obama’s crony capitalist paradise. Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/06/obamas_commerce_nominee_wants_to_limit_energy_consumption_and_redistribute_wealth.html

EPA Rules on Mercury Will Cost Billions, ‘Do Nothing’ - “In the face of these minuscule risks, the EPA nevertheless demands that utility companies spend billions every year retrofitting coal-fired power plants that produce half of all U.S. electricity.”

The authors also state that blood mercury counts for American women and children actually decreased between 1999 and 2008, placing them below the safe levels established by the EPA, and that despite frequent warnings about the dangers of consuming fish, “the 200,000,000 tons of mercury naturally present in seawater have never posed a danger to any living being.”

They conclude: “The EPA’s actions can be counted on to achieve only one thing — which is to further advance the Obama administration’s oft-stated goal of penalizing hydrocarbon use and driving a transition to unreliable renewable energy.” Read more: https://wdednh.wordpress.com/tag/paul-driessen/

Obama’s lock-step liberals on the Supreme Court - The newest members of the nation’s highest court — local Obama appointees Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — have agreed with each other in all 23 cases they’ve voted on, which is a supreme rarity, observers said.

Liberal critics who deride the Supreme Court’s rightward shift over the past 10 years have cited conservative alliances like “Scalito,” Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito.

But Scalia and Alito have agreed with each other in only 84 percent of cases in the current term, which winds up this month.

It’s nice to have such independent thinkers sitting on the Supreme Court, isn’t it? In truth, this points up how ridiculously easy it is to be a liberal.

You don’t really have to think very much at all. Liberals have a Pavlovian emotional response to just about everything so it’s simply a matter of finding the right emotional hot button to get the proper result. “Social justice,” “fairness,” “for the children” usually does the trick. Liberals respond in universal ways to those code words and I suspect something similar is at work at the court. Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/06/obamas_lock-step_liberals_on_the_supreme_court.html

House Votes to Defund ACORN Successor Groups - Spearheading the effort to keep taxpayer dollars out of the hands of ACORN was Congressman Steve King (R-Iowa), who figures prominently in my new book, Subversion Inc.: How Obama’s ACORN Red Shirts are Still Terrorizing and Ripping Off American Taxpayers.

“ACORN is a corrupt criminal enterprise that threatens our democratic system of government by systematically committing voter registration fraud,” said King, a longtime ACORN critic. “American taxpayers should not be asked to fund an organization that is dedicated to corrupting the sanctity of every American’s vote.” Read more: http://spectator.org/blog/2011/06/06/house-votes-to-defund-acorn-su

Voter ID good for Wisconsin - Supporters of cleaner, more secure elections scored a victory May 19 with the Wisconsin State Senate approval of Indiana-style voter ID legislation.

Indiana’s voter ID law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. The Wisconsin Legislature’s ultimate goal was to enact an Indiana-style constitutional law. The Supreme Court found Indiana’s photo identification requirement was “… amply justified by the valid interest in protecting ‘the integrity and reliability of the electoral process.’” In addition, Indiana’s interest in preventing voter fraud, modernizing elections and promoting public confidence in the integrity of the electoral process outweighed the limited burden upon voters’ rights. The Wisconsin voter ID law Assembly Bill 7 advances those three constitutionally-tested interests in Wisconsin. Read more: http://www.wisopinion.com/index.iml?mdl=article.mdl&article=35266

Wisconsin Republicans will have to be courageous one more time - It must be extremely nerve-wracking to face a recall election as a politician, but the bill has been a sound piece of legislation from the start and the Republicans, even those whose own political futures are uncertain, know this. They’ve demonstrated courage and resolve in the face of countless protesters, 14 irresponsibly absent senators and one clearly partial judge. Which would be worse to lose — a recall election or the courage of conviction and principled perseverance they’ve come to be known for? If the tenacity they’ve shown in the past is any indication, they’ll repass the bill. Read more: http://hotair.com/archives/2011/05/26/wi-republicans-will-have-to-be-courageous-one-more-time/

Priebus: Wisconsin will be targeted state in 2012 - When it comes to deciding who will be the next resident of the White House, it will come down to economics, says Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee. The former Wisconsin GOP chairman talked about the key issues Wednesday in the presidential race, including the fact that he expects his home state to play an important role, WISN-TV ABC 12 News in Milwaukee reported Thursday.

“We are making the case, the economic case, to defeat Barack Obama,” Priebus said. “At the end of the day, I think this is going to come down to a couple of fundamental questions for the American people. Are you better off today than you were three years ago? And I think most people are going to answer, ‘No.’”

Priebus said he has been working almost nonstop, with a lot of time on the road, to defeat President Obama and other Democrats. It’s also been a whirlwind of change jumping into the national spotlight.

“It’s been an adjustment, obviously me not being home as much as I’d like to be,” he said. “I’ve got two little kids — Jack, who’s 6, and Grace, she’s 1 — but they’ve moved here to Washington, D.C., on and off to make it a little easier.”

Priebus is convinced that the race eventually will bring much of his focus back to his home state.

GOP employs little used rule to block recess appointment of Warren - President Obama has used recess appointments in the past to get controversial nominees into the positions he chose for them. So the Republicans employed a little used legislative gambit to block the president’s expected recess appointment of Elizabeth Warren to head up the new Consumer Finance Protection Board. Read more: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/05/gop_employs_little_used_rule_t.html

We’re the problem - The Democrats’ victory Tuesday in a special election in New York’s 26th Congressional District is being touted as proof that Republicans have overreached on Medicare reform. But the facts are more complicated.

Many analysts considered the victor, Democrat Kathy Hochul, a better candidate than Republican Jane Corwin. Hochul had a longer track record in the district and more connection with voters. Plus, a third-party candidate — former Democrat and faux tea party representative Jack Davis — spent millions on his campaign and pulled 9 percent of the vote. But excuses notwithstanding, Republicans should learn a few lessons from their loss. Read more: http://townhall.com/columnists/lindachavez/2011/05/27/were_the_problem/page/full/

Truth on Medicare will win out - Paul Ryan rejects the narrative being pushed by the liberal media that his proposal to reform Medicare is toxic for the Republican Party. “Demagoguery can work for a short period of time, but it doesn’t last because the truth comes out,” he told Human Events. “Time is on our side. Truth and the facts are on our side, and all we have to do is get the truth out there.” Read more: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=43761

Paul Ryan: Obamacare is a real Medicare killer - “Obamacare kills Medicare as we know it,” Ryan said. “Obamacare raids $500 billion from Medicare to spend on Obamacare, puts in place a [15-member] board to ration Medicare. Our budget repeals the raiding, gets rid of the rationing board, preserves this program — makes no changes for a person 55 years of age or older, and saves Medicare.

“The president’s plan does not save Medicare — it lets it go bankrupt — rations the program and raids the program,” he said. “We get rid of the rationing, we stop the raiding, and we save the program from bankruptcy.”

Dropped Like a Hot Potato! Are Retirees Stuck? - Dear Policy Patriot, Is your future looking pretty grim under the new health care legislation? Earlier this month, Richard Foster, Chief Actuary of Medicare, released a sobering report in answer to the earlier Medicare Trustees report: because of ObamaCare, our already broken Medicare system will self-destruct. Who will feel the repercussions of ObamaCare the most? The elderly and the needy.

Foster predicts that in as soon as three years, Medicare physician payments will be cut by 30%. If you’re on Medicare, chances are good your doctor will drop you as a patient since reimbursement will be far below the cost of treatment. Even though you’ve been paying for other people’s Medicare all your working life, the chance of adequate health care for you is over unless the new health care legislation is fixed quickly. http://www.ncpa.org/pub/st315

Luckily, we at the NCPA are on your side, fighting on the legislative frontlines for your health care interests. But we need your help to continue this battle. Click on this link to give to the NCPA. http://www.ncpa.org/

Texas Leads the Way with ‘Loser Pays’ Reform; Blow to Trial Lobby - Texas took yet another step this week that is certain to tighten its grip on the designation as the nation’s leading state for business. Governors in other states looking to improve their jobs situation should give serious consideration to mirroring the Lone Star State’s aggressive pro-jobs, pro-growth agenda.

On Tuesday the Texas Senate, under the leadership of Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and despite an aggressive lobbying effort by the Trial Lobby, voted unanimously in favor of “loser pays” tort reform legislation. On Wednesday, the House, which had passed a similar bill and was awaiting the Senate’s version, concurred with the Senate bill and passed it through. Gov. Rick Perry has said he will enthusiastically sign the bill into law.

‘Loser pays’ will require plaintiff’s to foot the bill of the winning party’s legal costs if a judge finds the case to be groundless. According to the Wall Street Journal, “This Texas upgrade would build on reforms in 2003 and 2005 that have vastly improved the legal climate in what has not coincidentally become the country’s best state for job creation.”

Negotiations on the bill were highly contentious in recent weeks, mostly due to a well-funded lobbying campaign by the Trial Lobby, which, in Texas, is virtually synonymous with the Democratic Party. Nevertheless, there was a breakthrough over the weekend.

From the Austin Statesman:
By a unanimous vote, the Texas Senate has just given final approval to a once-controversial “loser pays” bill designed to make it easier to get meritless lawsuits tossed out of court.

Passage of the measure had been one of the goals of Gov. Rick Perry and GOP conservative groups. But as recently as a week ago, approval of the new law remained in doubt, as various groups continued to battle over its provisions.

Then, after several days of closed-door talks, a surprise deal was announced Saturday on House Bill 274 that allowed for today’s vote.

Gov. Perry and Lt. Gov. Dewhurst deserve credit for shepherding the measure through negotiations. They serve as an example to Governors Nikki Haley of South Carolina and Tom Corbett of Pennsylvania, each of who was elected on a pledge to institute similar reforms in their respective states. Americans for Job Security also stood up to the Trial Lobby’s largess with radio ads and a public information campaign.

“Thanks to the principled leadership of Gov. Perry and Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, a strong tort reform bill has emerged from the Senate,” said Stephen DeMaura, president of Americans for Job Security. “This important legislation would be a boost to Texas’s economy, freeing small business owners from the threat of frivolous lawsuits and securing the Lone Star State’s status as a magnet to job creators.”

Properly understood, Gov. Perry’s aggressive reforms should be classified along with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s and New Jersey Governor Christ Christie’s union and budget reforms. In Texas, Perry is confronting a powerful pillar of the Democrat establishment – the Trial Lobby spent nearly $14 million to defeat Perry last year – just as Walker and Christie are attempting to do with Big Labor. It’s why these men have been successful to date, hold the promise of future success and remain exceedingly popular within the Republican Party. It is also terrific policy designed to create a pro-jobs, pro-growth economic environment. The nation’s other governors should take note. URL to article: http://biggovernment.com/capitolconfidential/2011/05/26/texas-leads-the-way-with-loser-pays-reform-blow-to-trial-lobby/

Dear 2nd Amendment Supporters,

I wanted to take a moment to share with you a memo legislative offices received recently from a coalition of left-leaning churches opposing Concealed Carry legislation.
See attached pdf.
This coalition consists of:
1) Wisconsin Catholic Conference (these lobbyists worked Very Hard in prior Sessions to defeat Concealed Carry bills)
2) Wisconsin Council of Churches
3) Wisconsin Jewish Conference
4) Lutheran Office for Public Policy.
As always, please feel free to share this memo with others who support the Constitution.

Hochul, 52, the Erie County clerk who turned the campaign into a referendum on the Medicare plan, defeated Republican state legislator Jane Corwin Tuesday, 47 percent to 43 percent, with 97 percent of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press tally. Buffalo-area industrialist Jack Davis, who ran on the Tea Party ballot slot, received 9 percent.

Liberal Hochul Edges Out Corwin in NY-26 - In the end, the “Stop Ryan” blitz and the Davis renegade candidacy proved more potent than Corwin’s far-superior cash resources. Along with the efforts of American Crossroads and the National Republican Congressional Committee (which spent an estimated $500,000 on TV ads), the businesswoman-candidate herself pumped more than $1.6 million of her own wealth into the campaign in its closing days.

For Republicans nationally, the results from NY-26 bring anticipation that future attacks will be grounded in “Medi-scare” and focused on the Ryan plan. Perhaps the best post-script on this race is the title of a timeless novel by H.G. Welles: The Shape of Things to Come. Read more: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=43707

Democrats Say 47 Percent Vote in Three-Party Race Was Referendum on Medicare - Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus predicted that Hochul will find it difficult to hold her seat in 2012 “with Barack Obama and his failed economic leadership weighing heavily on the minds of Western New York voters when they return to the polls.”

Priebus was quoted as saying that the election result proves “Democrats will stop at nothing to preserve the status quo in Washington, which is propelling our country towards bankruptcy.” He also criticized Hochul’s “reckless disregard for the looming insolvency of critical government programs and our crushing debt (which) will allow her to feel right at home in Nancy Pelosi’s Democrat caucus.”

Republican leaders say they are trying to save Medicare, an entitlement program for senior citizens, for current and future generations.

Saving Medicare: A flaw in Medicare’s structure is driving up health-care costs, which are, in turn, threatening to bankrupt the system – and ultimately the nation. This budget saves Medicare by fixing this flawed structure so that the program will be there for future generations. These changes will not affect those in and near retirement in any way. When younger workers become eligible for Medicare, they will be able to choose from a list of guaranteed coverage options, enjoying the same kind of choices in their plans that members of Congress enjoy today. Medicare would then provide a payment to subsidize the cost of the plan. In addition, Medicare will provide increased assistance for lower-income beneficiaries and those with greater health risks. Reform that empowers individuals — with a strengthened safety net for the poor and the sick — will guarantee that Medicare can fulfill the promise of health security for America’s seniors. Read more: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/democrats-view-ny-congressional-election

Democrat Wins G.O.P. Seat; Rebuke Seen to Medicare Plan - When Medicare erupted in the race, Ms. Corwin, a wealthy former Wall Street analyst, was knocked off balance and struggled to respond.
In the closing hours of the race, Ms. Corwin admitted as much, saying about her rival’s attacks: “When she started making these comments, I thought, ‘This is so outrageous no one would ever believe it.’ Apparently some people did.” Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/nyregion/democrat-capture-house-seat-in-special-election.html

Rove: Obama will let Medicare go bankrupt - Former presidential adviser Karl Rove says President Barack Obama will spend much of his time and money “trashing” the Republican presidential candidate. Obama also will allow Medicare to go bankrupt, Rove said Tuesday on Fox News.

“We’re on the cusp of what will be the most, in my opinion, the most negative re-election effort ever mounted by a president,” Rove told Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly. “He will want to defend the record of the last four years. By the time the election rolls around, he’s going to spend much of his time, much of his money, much of his treasure on trashing the Republican presidential candidate.”

O’Reilly said Obama will make Medicare the centerpiece of his re-election campaign.

“Well, if he does, he’s got a problem because his own actuary at the Department of Health and Human Services says the program is going broke in 2026,” Rove said. “We’re already spending more money than we take in on Medicare on the parts of Medicare they are sort of self-funding, self- financing.

“The president is obligated under a federal law to have provided each of the last three years a plan to Congress on how Medicare is going to be stabilized and made solvent,” he said. “It’s an automatic — automatic — trigger built into the law many decades ago. He has failed in each one of the years he is in office to provide that kind of plan to the Congress.

VIDEO: Fact Checking the President on Gas Prices -
As we head into this Memorial Day weekend, Americans will be paying more at the pump than they were even a year ago. According to a recent survey by AAA, gas prices have increased by $1.06 in the past year. But while Americans are busy feeling the pinch and demanding solutions to higher prices, the Obama Administration has little to offer but excuses.

The Heritage Foundation’s newest video takes on several of President Obama’s favorite myths and puts them to rest.

For the second year in a row the Republican Party of Oneida County received a Wisconsin Award at the State Convention held in Wisconsin Dells May 20 - 22. The Wisconsin Award is a top tier award. More information to follow.

Clever new voting trick brought to you by the Democratic Party USA - Just Switch your Party Registration to another State and claim you were “on Vacation” - A Ft. Wayne, Indiana Democrat activist and city council candidate has come up with a new creative voting tactic. He went on “vacation,” and registered to vote in Wisconsin. All the time he was on the ballot as a Democrat candidate in Indiana for Ft. Wayne city council. Read more: http://punditpress.blogspot.com/2011/05/clever-new.html

The Weak Link: Dependency and the Voter - Those who regard government “entitlement” programs as sacrosanct, and regard those who want to cut them back as calloused or cruel, picture a world very different from the world of reality. Read more: http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2724007/posts

Senators Question Whether Social Security Disability Program Is Cheating Taxpayers - The senators said it has come to their attention that at least at least 100 of the 1,500 judges at Social Security are approving 90 percent or more of the cases they review. “These numbers defy conventional logic and demand further scrutiny,” they said.

In their letter to Social Security Administration Inspector-General Patrick O’Carroll, Jr., Hatch and Coburn noted that the approval of a single disability claim results in a lifetime obligation of approximately $300,000 from taxpayers. “This means that the claims approved in just the first six months of 2011 by this one West Virginia (judge) will cost taxpayers over $218 million.”

Jump in disability payouts draining Social Security fund (this is Rhode Island, but think other states as well) - The number of Rhode Islanders collecting disability benefits from the Social Security Administration has grown by 38 percent in the last 10 years — six times the rate of increase for Social Security beneficiaries overall, a Providence Journal analysis of Social Security Administration figures shows.

In 2001, there were about 25,000 Rhode Islanders receiving benefits from Social Security Disability Insurance, known as SSDI.

By 2010, the figure had grown to more than 34,000 — a number about equal to the entire population of Cumberland.

Meanwhile, over the same period, the overall number of Social Security beneficiaries in Rhode Island — including those collecting retirement benefits, survivor benefits and disability benefits — grew by only about 6 percent, to 203,660, Social Security Administration figures show.
Rhode Island’s experience reflects a broader trend.

Big Surprise: AARP joins Waiver-Gate - The seniors group that lobbied heavily for ObamaCare and stands to profit handsomely from it now has its own waiver. As the White House picks winners and losers, AARP wins and the rest of us lose.

Although not specifically mentioned by name in the rate review rules finalized last Thursday by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the rule that exempts Medigap insurance providers is clearly designed to benefit the largest seller of such policies and the biggest lobbyist for ObamaCare — the American Association of Retired Persons. Read more: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2724053/posts

The Islamists’ Enablers: The Western Sellout to Sharia Law - There is no doubt that free speech, the bedrock of democracy and civilization, is under dangerous assault in many Western countries, by a variety of leading organizations and individuals who align themselves with Muslim institutions.

They all promote the fantasy of Muslim victimhood, and force the West to overprotect Muslims, to ignore their atrocities, and to surrender to their escalating demands.

Around the world, Muslims enforce non Muslims compliance and deliberate air-brushing of the extent and magnitude of the Islamic threat — from holy war, or Jihad, to the treatment of women under Islam. As approved by Sharia dictates, Muslims also try to forbid non-Muslims from speaking critically about Islam.

How do they accomplish this? They name anyone who engages in an honest examination of Islamic texts as a bigot, or full of hate, or call him an “Islamophobe.” Dissent brings trials for non-specific “hate-speech” crimes, as well as threats of riots, violence and boycotts. In many worst-case scenarios, Muslims kill non Muslims, as well as those brave Muslims who dare to defy mind-control and suppression. Read more: http://www.hudson-ny.org/2135/islamists-western-sharia-law

Gimme, Gimme, Gimme shouts the “Better Way” mob - The protests in the US and Europe have a common theme “gimme gimme gimme”.

Union Member Strikes Back at the Obama-Big Labor Regulatory Attack on Employees - Today, when UFCW union member Chris Mosquera and his attorney from the National Right To Work Legal Defense Foundation file his lawsuit in U.S. District Court challenging the Obama-SEIU-AFL-CIO-UFCW Empire, Mr. Mosquera officially stands up to the Obama Administration. Mr. Mosquera challenges the Administration’s attacks on individual workers such as it usurpation of power from individuals through Administration’s new Big Labor Boss-friendly reg that helps conceal forced union dues shenanigans.

You may remember that within hours of arriving in the Oval Office, President Obama dispatched orders to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). These orders were not to immediately begin turning around the economy or start finding ways to encourage employers to hire more people. No. Obama’s orders were much less bold and more typical of Tammany Hall payback to Big Labor Bosses who threw a billion dollars’ worth of forced-dues assets (Time, Talent, and Treasure) behind Obama and Democrat political campaigns.

Before the Big Labor insiders at DOL made time to “help” employees and the unemployed, they set about rescinding the January 2009 union financial disclosure reform; they declared the agency would no longer enforce the 2008 union officer conflict-of-interest reports; they stopped state teacher unions’ financial disclosures; and they rescinded the requirement that unions disclose non-union enterprises that they control.

Mr. Mosquera’s actions are both courageous and necessary, not only for workers who live in forced-unionism states such as Maryland and Indiana, but for any employee who is or may be covered by a collective bargaining contract with an LMRDA-covered labor union (The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) grants certain rights to union members and protects their interests).

Mr. Mosquera stands as a shining torch to light way for others across the U.S. to challenge the Obama Administration in court whenever the Empire exceeds its authority.

Brief Background of the Lawsuit Issue:

When Labor Secretary Hilda Solis rescinded the January 2009 LM-2 Final Rule regarding union financial disclosure she exceeded her power because:

She cannot use burden as a justification for rescission

She replaced the rescinded LM-2 rule with a rule that actually increases opportunities to evade and circumvent the LMRDA, and;

The LMRDA specifically requires the reporting and disclosure of “receipts of any kind and the sources thereof.” [201(b)(2)] When Secretary Solis rescinded the January 2009 LM-2 final rule, she eliminated disclosure of the “sources” of most receipts, in direct contradiction of the Act’s statutory language.

When Congress enacted the LMRDA, it created a one-way regulatory ratchet that requires the Secretary of Labor to limit changes to reporting and disclosure that will increase either reporting or disclosure, or increase both. Congress explicitly does not authorize the Secretary to reduce public reporting or disclosure, even for supposed “burden” claims by the Secretary. The burden claims are weighed in the regulatory process that created the 2009 LM-2 final rule.

The statutory language specifically states:
SEC. 208 . The Secretary shall have authority to issue, amend, and rescind rules and regulations prescribing the form and publication of reports required to be filed under this title and such other reasonable rules and regulations (including rules prescribing reports concerning trusts in which a labor organization is interested) as he may find necessary to prevent the circumvention or evasion of such reporting requirements. (Emphasis added) URL to article: http://biggovernment.com/dloos/2011/05/23/union-member-strikes-back-at-the-obama-big-labor-regulatory-attack-on-employees/

There is no Palestine - Simply stated, there is no Palestine. In an effort to obliterate the nation of Israel, the Roman emperor Hadrian ordered that its name be changed to Palestine, a Greek word for Philistine, but other than this there never was a Palestine nation, nor is there one now.

To be a nation, it has to have been founded and it has to have specific borders. It has to have a capitol, major cities, an economy and currency of its own, and a stable government. It has to be recognized as a nation by other nations. None of these factors exists for the so-called West Bank and Gaza. Read more: http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/36808

Our community organizer in chief tried his favorite strategy — bullying — on the Israeli Prime Minister last week, and discovered to his evident surprise that veterans of the special operations community are not among those who can be intimidated. Those of us who wondered how Obama would misuse the political capital gained by killing Osama bin Laden were answered on Thursday when Obama took American Middle East policy in a bizarre and dangerous direction. But before we get to that, we need to set the context of Obama’s actions. Read more: http://spectator.org/archives/2011/05/23/barrys-bullying-failed-with-bi#

Time for America to roll back its borders -

Dear President Obama:

I am writing today with a somewhat unusual request. Actually, it is a series of requests. First and foremost, I will be asking that you return America to its August 20th, 1959 borders so that Hawaii is no longer a state and you are no longer a citizen. I make this request because I don’t like your policies and I don’t like you. If I sound like I’m asking for too much just be patient. I’m only getting started.

Senate passes photo ID; some Democrats refuse to vote - Madison - Senate Republicans approved requiring people to show photo ID at the polls amid a cacophonous vote Thursday, with eight Democrats not even voting on the measure in protest and because of confusion over how the proceedings were conducted.

From the We’re Watching Wisconsin Elections Campaign - VOTER ID BILL WILL NOW GO TO GOVERNOR’S DESK, NEXT WEDNESDAY FOR HIS SIGNATURE. WISCONSIN CITIZENS HAVE BEEN WAITING A LONG TIME FOR THIS TO BECOME LAW!

Two months ago, we wrote to you with a request under the state’s Open Records Law (19.31-39, Wisconsin Statutes).

Specifically, we asked for the following from January 1st to March 18th:
Copies of all correspondence you have received, including, but not limited to, letters, emails, voice mails, records of phone calls, and logs of in-person meetings regarding the subject of changes to Wisconsin’s collective bargaining laws for public employees.

Included in this request are communications specifically pertaining to SSSB11, SSAB11, and 2011 Wis. Act 10 as well as the issue generally.

We are puzzled by your response.

Your office turned over a grand total of seven documents: Copies of three emails you received in support of your actions; copies of three letters you received in support of your actions; and, one mass email your office apparently forwarded to an unknown list of recipients.

If, indeed, your office only has received six emails/letters on this topic (and none prior to your announcement that you would delay publication of Act 10), you owe the taxpayers of Wisconsin an explanation.

On March 3rd, Fox6 television news investigators in Milwaukee reported that emails they obtained showed that the then-mayor of Madison enlisted the help of State Senator Mark Miller in an attempt to convince you to hold up the bill by taking the maximum 10 days allowed by law before publishing the bill.

On March 14th the Associated Press reported: “La Follette said he heard from many schools, cities and counties urging him to delay enactment of the law as long as possible.”

Was the documentation of these contacts from ‘many schools, cities and counties’ destroyed?

Was it merely misplaced?

Did these contacts really happen?

We’re releasing a copy of this letter to the public. If you feel no responsibility to give us an answer to these questions, perhaps you will, as a Constitutional Officer of the State of Wisconsin, feel a moral obligation to tell the truth to the citizens of the state.

Sincerely,
Brett Healy, President
The John K. MacIver Institute for Public Policy

Allen West: Obama’s Recognition of Pre-1967 Borders ‘Beginning of the End’ for Jewish State - “It’s time for the American people to stand by our strongest ally, the Jewish State of Israel, and reject this foreign policy blunder of epic proportions.

“While the winds of democracy may blow strong in the Middle East, history has demonstrated that gaps in leadership can lead to despotic regimes. I have questions for President Obama: ‘Who will now lead in Egypt?’ and ‘Why should American taxpayers provide foreign aid to a nation where the next chapter in their history may be the emergence of another radical Islamic state?’

“President Obama has not stood for Israel or the Jewish people and has made it clear where the United States will stand when Palestine attempts to gain recognition of statehood by the United Nations. The President should focus on the real obstacle to security- the Palestinian leadership and its ultimate goal to eliminate Israel and the Jewish people.” Read more: http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/allen-west-obama-pre/2011/05/19/id/397020

Brent Bozell: ‘It’s Time the GOP Step Up or Move Aside’ - “There is no luxury of time to debate and discuss and, as usual, postpone the tough decisions,” said Bozell. “They are upon us. Will we continue on the path to European socialism, or will we once more be a nation based on individual freedom, a virtuous and principled society and limited government? It’s time the GOP step up or move aside.” Read more: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/brent-bozell-it-s-time-gop-step-or-move

$3 million in food stamp fraud alleged against former owner of St. Paul corner market - “After the search warrant was executed, agents contacted a number of benefit holders,” Nelson wrote in her affidavit. “The benefit holders that agents spoke with told them that it was well known that Stryker was a place where you could trade your food stamp benefits for cash.”

But Schermer said some types of EBT cards did allow users to get cash, much like an automated teller.

“If you’ve got cash coming, then you get cash and the government reimburses the storekeeper,” he said. “Some people have only food stamps, but some people also have welfare benefits and they are loaded onto the card. There’s no physical food stamps anymore. The benefit is loaded onto the cards and you go into a store and go buy groceries.” Read more: http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_18091936?source=email

National Labor Relations Board Comes to Big Labor’s Defense - Borrowing a page from the union intimidation playbook, the NLRB’s general counsel released a statement earlier this month warning Boeing not to “litigate this case in the media and public arena.” It is clear to the NLRB that its actions against Boeing would be unpopular nationally—and especially in South Carolina—so they do not desire attention or transparency. But as in most cases, when an agency like the NLRB wants the media to ignore a story, more media scrutiny is likely required. Read more: http://blog.heritage.org/2011/05/19/morning-bell-nlrb-comes-to-big-labors-defense/

The Center for Security Policy’s report, Shariah Law and American State Courts: An Assessment of State Appellate Court Cases evaluates 50 Appellate Court cases from 23 states that involve conflicts between Shariah (Islamic law) and American state law. These cases are the stories of Muslim American families, mostly Muslim women and children, who were asking American courts to preserve their rights to equal protection and due process. These families came to America for freedom from the discriminatory and cruel laws of Shariah. When our courts then apply Shariah law in the lives of these families, and deny them equal protection,…Read more: http://shariahinamericancourts.com/

Kim Simac, Republican Candidate for the 12th District State Senate seat, was a featured speaker today at the Lakeland Area Republican Women’s Club. Andy Loduha, Chairman of the Republican Party of Oneida County and Treasurer of the Committee to Elect Kim Simac for State Senate was also a speaker. At the event Andy expressed his pride to be associated with a candidate of such high integrity as Kim Simac. “Having Kim represent us in Madison will be as if we are there ourselves on the floor of the legislature. She will be our ears and voice in the legislative process. She will represent all voters of Wisconsin’s 12th District.”

9 Wisconsin Senators are facing recall elections. Of those only 3 of the 14 that left their jobs for 3 weeks are facing recall. There are frivolous recalls against 6 Republican Senators for doing their job…because the Dems didn’t like the way they voted! This is a reminder that we need to get out there and work very hard to keep our majority! And then make some rules for recall…there shouldn’t be frivolous recalls and for frivolous recalls there should be consequences! - JoyceWisconsin Senators facing recall are:
Sen. Robert Cowles, R-Allouez
Sen. Alberta Darling, R-River Hills
Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls
Sen. Jim Holperin, D-Conover
Sen. Luther Olsen, R-Ripon
Sen. Randy Hopper, R-Fond du Lac
Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie
Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay
Sen. Dan Kapanke, R-La Crosse
The GAB has not scheduled a hearing for validating the recall of the ninth senator — Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay — because recall signatures were submitted later than the other state senators.

Recount Follies Continue - Whatever momentum the left has in Wisconsin would be gone. The anger on the right would make Madison’s recent Days of Rage look like a picnic. No Democrat would win a recall and Obama will be an immediate underdog in Wisconsin. You can’t toss out legitmately cast votes and not pay a huge price. Read more: http://sharkandshepherd.blogspot.com/2011/05/recount-follies-continue.html

Kloppenburglary Update - Why are we so sure Kloppenburg will sue the Government Accountability Board once they certify David Prosser as the winner? Kloppenburg’s campaign has made more than 500 formal objections to decisions by canvassers in Waukesha County alone. People whose livelihood involves hand-to-hand combat in the courtroom don’t manufacture complaints on that scale unless they intend to use them for something. Read more: http://wicfg.wordpress.com/2011/05/18/kloppenburglary-update/

Fitzgerald: GOP will not cut recycling funding or SeniorCare - The Assembly’s top leader said Wednesday that Republicans who control the Legislature will make no cuts to the state’s recycling program and a popular prescription drug plan for seniors. Read more: http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/122168248.html

University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Fights to Defund College Republicans - Saul Alinsky would be proud of the UWM SA for their actions; however, the university should be ashamed. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. College Republican groups across the country are being assaulted, led by the example set by the Mainstream Media who are constantly working to silence and destroy conservatism in the United States. American Universities are supposed to be a place where all voices can be heard, which means Left AND Right for those who don’t understand. Personally, I can’t wait until the alumni association calls me at nine at night again to ask me for a contribution.
The UWM alumni association can be contacted here. http://www4.uwm.edu/alumni/

Searchable online donor database updated - The Democracy Campaign added more than 18,000 new records of campaign donations to our online database this week. The database is now updated through December 31, 2010 for candidates in last fall’s election as well as incumbent senators who did not face re-election in 2010. It also is up to date through March 21 for candidates in the 2011 state Supreme Court election and through April 18 for candidates in the special legislative elections held on May 3. http://www.wisdc.org/index.php?module=wisdc.websiteforms&cmd=searchcandidatesummary&id=400003

Salary & Benefit Data for Public Employees - The MacIver-operated web site www.WIOpenGov.org has just posted 2011 salary and benefit data for more than 105,000 public school teachers and administrators. With the addition of the current-year numbers, the site now has a continuous, 17-year record of compensation data for every K-12 school district in Wisconsin.

Reform That Works - INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY
Government: Social Security, according to a just-released Trustee report, is now “permanently cash negative.” But for any who think saving citizens’ retirements is impossible, take a look at what’s been done in Galveston, Texas. Thirty years ago, tiny Galveston opted out of the entire Social Security system for its county…Reform That Works - With the bad news just getting worse, it’s time to recognize that private social security can indeed work and ought to be available for everyone who wants …
Investor’s Business Daily

Bad news: Angry Hillary refuses to meet with useful idiot on North Korea - It seems the “useful idiot” assessment is no longer a partisan thing.

The performance of President Carter and his delegation in N. Korea this week was either shameful or fatuous…or both…and exemplifies why Carter had no…zero…USG support going in, and even less coming out, per an alleged eye witness account of Sec. St. Clinton at the morning meeting the other day:

“Do you want to meet with Carter?” Clinton is looking at papers, and just says “No.” Then she pauses, looks up and adds, “HELL no!!!”

The Dirty Old Man and the IMF - No way, said President Nixon. He slammed the gold window shut, cut the dollar loose and let it float against the world’s currencies. The Bretton Woods system of fixed exchange rates was dead. And the IMF, established to maintain it, should have died with it.
It did not, for as Ronald Reagan reminded us, the closest we come to eternal life on this earth is a government program.

Newly released documents reveal Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan was more involved with President Obama’s health-care law than she disclosed previously. The documents likely will lead to a revival of questions about whether the Kagan should recuse herself from future cases.

The Death Of A Pipeline - INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY - Energy: Lack of oil volume due to administration bans on new Alaskan drilling may force the shutdown of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, denying us even the tens of billions of barrels left in already developed fields. The Trans-Alaskan pipeline is dying, another casualty of the Obama administration’s war on domestic fossil…The Death Of A Pipeline - Energy: Lack of oil volume due to administration bans on new Alaskan drilling may force the shutdown of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, denying us even the tens …Investor’s Business Daily

TAKE ACTION TO STOP OBAMA’S WORST JUDICIAL NOMINEE - GOODWIN LIU - On Tuesday night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed cloture to end debate on the nomination of Goodwin Liu to the federal appeals court for the 9th District based in California. The vote will be on Thursday and it will take 60 votes to bring Liu’s nomination to a vote.

Of all the poorly qualified political activists President Obama has nominated to the federal bench, Liu is arguably the worst of the bunch. An Associate Dean at Berkeley School of Law, Liu does not even meet the standards set by the American Bar Association, having no trial experience. A hero to the left for opposing the nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, Liu, if confirmed, would nevertheless be the odds-on favorite for the next Supreme Court vacancy.

Liu has made it clear that he believes the constitution is merely a guide to judicial decisions. In his writings, Liu said he “envisions the judiciary as a culturally situated interpreter of social meaning.” The key to judicial decisions, says Liu, should be “our collective values,” “evolving norms,” and “social understandings,” rather than the Constitution as written or the laws passed by Congress.

How would this philosophy manifest itself? Well, for one thing, Liu has said there is a constitutional right to welfare, or as he put it, “negative rights against government oppression” and “positive rights to government assistance” should have “equal constitutional status.”

Liu’s view on criminal law has resulted in the extraordinary opposition from 42 of 58 District Attorney’s in California, where the 9th Circuit is based. Here’s what they said about a Liu paper on criminal law:

“This document demonstrated beyond serious question that his (Liu’s) views on criminal law, capital punishment and the role of the federal courts in second-guessing state decisions are fully aligned” with an appeals court that is “far outside of the judicial mainstream.”

Other writing by Liu have supported reparations for slavery and racial quotas to remedy “societal discrimination,” a position rejected by the Supreme Court.

Although Liu wants a pass for his past statements, he helped lead the fight against the Roberts and Alito Supreme Court nominations. Roberts, he said in an op-ed, had an “ideological agenda” hostile to the environmental workplace and consumer protections. Liu testified at Alito’s confirmation hearing that the “America envisioned by his (Alito’s) record is not the America we know, nor is it the America we aspire to be.”